Device for cleaning flat rolled hot and cold rolled steel



Se t. 5,,1933. A. WAHLQUIST v 1,925,732

DEVICE FOR CLEANING FLAT ROLLED HOT AND COLD ROLLED STEEL Filed April 10, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 August WaizZguist his Se t. 5, 1933, A. WAHLQUIST DEVICE FOR CLEANING FLAT ROLLED HOT AND COLD ROLLED STEEL Filed April 10. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aayusz nah/ m:

UNITED STATESA'PATVENT 1 OFFICE DEVICE FOR CLEANING FLAT ROLLED HOT AND COLD ROLLED STEEL August Wahlquist', Bridgeport, Conn, assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application April 10, 1929. Serial No. 353,399 4 Claims. (01'. 29 s1) The present invention relates to a machine or apparatus for wiping the scale, dirt and other foreign materials from the surfaces of the strips of steel just before Machines for this they are passed throughthe 5. rolls of a rolling-machine.

purpose, as now commercially employed, are providedwith a pair of blocks the opposed faces of which are covered with pads of felt, strips of carpet or the like, and the upper block is adapted to be moved to and from operative position with respect to the lower block by a screw which the operator turns by means of a "hand wheel or equivalent device. These old machines are open to numerous objections, among which may be mentioned the difficulty and slowness with which the machine maybe brought into operation to wipe the metal passing between the blocks. The strip of metal moves with considerablerapidity, and it has been found that by the time the operator lowers the upper block so that the pad carried thereby engages a strip of metal passing between the blocks a considerable length of metal has already passed beyond the cleaning device.

These old machinesare relatively. heavy structures, and require considerable eiTort on the part of the operator.

Constant supervision is necessary to compelthe operator to make use of these old type fixtures.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved cleaning device wherein the above and other disadvantages and objections incident to machines as heretofore constructed are to a large extent avoided or eliminated.

More particularly an aim of the invention is to machine which may r provide an improved, simplified and economical be very rapidly and easily operated, and which is very effective in wiping the steel passing therethrough so that it is thoroughly cleaned.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof, parts being broken away and Fig. 3 is an end v for purposes of illustration;

iew of the machine, a portion of one leg thereof being broken away, and the rollers of a rolling machine being shown in brokenlines. a Referring to the drawings in detail, A designates generallythe main frame of the machine which is preferably constructed of a length of angle iron bent into inverted U shape so as to provide a pair of vertical legs 10 and a top or cross portion 11. The frame may be cast. The letters B and C designate two blocks, one above the other, the opposed faces of which are provided with wiping members 12 which may consist of pads of felt, strips ofcarpet or the like. The wiping members, bypreference, are of such length as to extend across the blocks and up the side faces thereof. The wiping members are removably secured in place by clamping strips 13' which are held in positionby bolts 14. The lower block B is secured to the horizontalweb of the cross portion 11 of the frame by bolts 15. The upper block C isfixed by means of bolts 16 to an overhead cross bar 1'7 having at its opposite ends outwardly extending ears which constitute gudgeons or pivots 18. These gudgeons are located for oscillating movement in openings or bearings provided in the upper ends of apair of guide rods 19, which'are connected to theoperating lever hereinafter described. These guide rods are mounted for vertical sliding movement a inopenings 20 provided in the cross portion 11 of the frame. I

Secured to the cross portion 11, by means of bolts 25; are a pair of brackets 26 which are located adjacent the opposite ends of the block B. These brackets, preferably made of strip metal, extend generally rearwardly and upwardly as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. Pivoted to the rear ends of these brackets, as by means of bolts 27 are forwardly extending arms 28. These arms 28 are also preferably formed, in the interest of economy, of strips of metal bent and twisted to the shape shown. The forward ends of these arms are located between the upper block C and the cross bar .17, and they have slots 29 through which the bolts 16 pass. 7 These slots 00 extend in the direction of the length of the arms. Interposed between each arm 28 and the top of the block C is a rocker piece 30 secured to the block C and having itsupper face convex, that is, the faces of the pieces 30 against which the arms 28 engage are curved in the direction of the length of the. arms. The lower ends of the guide rods 19 are connected by a cross yoke 35 which in turn is connected by a turn buckle to the central portion position shown by broken lines in Fig. 3. lever 3'7" is depressed by the act of'the operator of an operating lever 3'7. This operating lever which is located at the bottom of the machine, is pivoted at one end, as at 38, to a bracket 39. The lever 37 extends across the machine to the left hand end thereof and is provided with a pedal portion 40. The webs ofthelegs 10 are slotted so as to accommodate the vertical. movement of the lever 37. The lever 37 (together with the upper block C which is connected thereto through the vertical guide rods 19 and the turn buckle 36) is normally urged upwardly by a spring 41 so as to separate'the upper block from the lower one. One end of the spring is con-' nected to the lever adjacent to its free end, and the other end of the spring is' connected? to the frame as illustrated.

For the purpose of latching the lever in its depressed position so that the'upper block is held in lowered operative position with respect to the lower block, there is provided a latching mechanism which operates automatically. This latching-mechanism includes a latch 45' pivoted to the web of the left hand leg 10. The pivot for this latch may be in the form or a bolt 46.

The latch has a lock portion or lug 4'7, the bottom face of'which forms an abutment l8 which, when the latch is in an operative position, overhangs and engages the upper face of the lever 37- so as'to hold the latter-inthe depressed posi- 1 tion shown in Figs. 2- and 3.

The upper face of the lug 47- is inclined" inwardly and downwardly so as to provide acam face 49 against which the lever engages as it isbeing brought to de pressed position. When the lever engages this cam face, the latch is cammed out of the way so that the lever may be brought to the full depressed position. The latch is urged into operativeposition by a spring 50. For the purpose ,of operating-the latch to release the lever, the

latch is provided with an outwardly extending arm 51 which is adapted to receive thefoot of the operator.

The operation of the machine is briefly as follows: The machine is placed in front of a rollingmachine, the rolls R of which are shown diagrammatically and in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Asthe forward end of the strip is fed into the cleaning device, the upper pad is in the raised The pressing down with his foot on the pedal 40: Whenthe lever is thus depressed the upper block, through the turn buckle 36 and the guide rods I9, is moved down to the position shown by full lines in-Fig. 3, and in which position the strip to be cleaned as it passes through the device is pressed between the upper andlower cleaning pads 12'. The degree with which the strip of metal may be pressed between these pads may lee-varied by adjusting the turn buckle 36 When the" lever is depressed in the manner just olescribed, it engages the cam surface 49 of the latch 45 so that the latch will swing out of position to permit the lever to be brought to the full depressed position shown in Fig. 3, and when the lever has reached that position the latch, under the influence of the spring 50, will move to a latching position, that is, to a position'where the h1g4? engages the upper edge of the lever 37'; The machine will now remain in this operative position aslong'as the strip to be cleaned is passing through the device. When it is desired to raise the upper block preliminary to feeding the forward end. of another strip to be rolled through the cleaning device, it is merely neces-.

sary for the operator to step on the arm 51 of the latch, thus releasing the lever, whereupon this lever, together with the upper block, will move under the influence of the spring 41 to the dotted line position shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

It is to be observed that the sWinginga-rms 28 assist the guide rods 19 in. guiding-and supporting the upper block. Owing to the fact that the cross bar l'l'is journaled in the upper ends of the guide rods 19, and the rocker pieces 30 are interposed bevery quickly and easily brought int'oopera'tive relation to the strip with but little effort on the part ofthe operator, it being merely necessary for the operator to depress the lever 3'7 'against the force of the spring 41. When the operator brings the lever to full depressedposition, it is automatically latched in that position by the latch 45 sothat there is no necessity for the operator to continue pressure on the lever 3'7 Due to the fact that the machine is so easilyoperated, the upper block may be so quickly brought from its raised to its lowered oroperative position that little or no length of the strip to be cleaned has passed beyond the cleaning device before the upper block is brought to operative position. The upper block may be very quickly and easily raised, this being accomplished by the mere act of the operator placing his foot on' the arm 51 of the latch.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many, apparently, widely different embodiments could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense;

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention hereinbefore described, and all statements of'the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of languagemight be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. Ina device for cleaning flat rolled steel, a pair of blocks having cleaning members on their opposed faces, the lower of said blocks being fixed and the upper of said blocks being movable to and from operative relation to the lower one, a pair of vertical guide rods mounted for vertical sliding movement at the opposite ends of said blocks and connected to said upper block, a foot lever, a connection between said foot lever and guide rods and including an adjusting device for varying the pressure with which the strip of metalmay be pressed between said blocks, and a spring for urging said lever in a direction to separate the blocks.

2. In a device for cleaning fiat rolled steel, a pair'o'f blocks having cleaning members on their opposed faces, one of said blocks being fixed and the other of said blocks/being mounted for vertiopposed faces, one of said blocks being fixed and the other of said blocks being movable relative thereto, a pair of guide rods disposed for sliding movement at the opposite ends of said blocks, a cross bar journalled in said rods, means for connecting said movable block to said cross bar, and a pair of pivotally mounted arms having their free ends slidably interposed between said cross bar and movableblock.

4. In a device for cleaning flat rolled steel, a pair of blocks having cleaning members on their opposed faces, one of said blocks being fixed and the other of said blocks being movable relative thereto, rocker members on the upper face of said movable block, a pair of vertically slidable guide rods disposed at the opposite ends of said blocks, a cross bar journalled in the upper ends of said guide rods, bolts suspending said movable block from said cross bar, pivotally mounted arms having their free ends interposed between said rocker members and cross bar and having elongated slots receiving said bolts, and a lever connected to the lower ends of said guide rods.

, AUGUST WAHLQUIST. 

